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2016 Sparks Energy 300

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Ninth race of the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
2016 Sparks Energy 300
Race details
Race 9 of 33 in the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date April 30, 2016
Official name 25th Annual Sparks Energy 300
Location Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama
Course Permanent racing facility
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 116 laps, 308.56 mi (496.579 km)
Scheduled Distance 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.736 km)
Average speed 132.477 mph (213.201 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 52.857
Most laps led
Driver Brandon Jones Richard Childress Racing
Laps 36
Winner
No. 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Adam Alexander, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Waltrip
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Motor car race

The 2016 Sparks Energy 300 was the ninth stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, April 30, 2016, in Lincoln, Alabama, at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race was increased from 113 laps to 116 laps, due to a NASCAR overtime finish. In a wild finish that sparked controversy, Elliott Sadler, driving for JR Motorsports, would spin Brad Keselowski on the final lap, and earned his 11th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, and Brennan Poole, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

The race would bring controversy on the final lap. Elliott Sadler would get Joey Logano loose in turn four, causing Logano to slide down the racetrack and hit Sadler. He would then ricochet up the racetrack, and Blake Koch, with nowhere to go, would slam into the side of Logano, making Logano go airborne. Ultimately, Brennan Poole would cross the line first, in a photo finish with Justin Allgaier. Since the caution came out before the field took the checkered flag, NASCAR reviewed the running positions when it flew. Elliott Sadler would be the official winner, since he was the driver that was leading when the caution came out. Allgaier and Poole would be credited with second and third place, respectively.

Background

The layout of Talladega Superspeedway, the circuit where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family. As of 2021, the track hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, with a length of 2.66 miles (4.281 km), compared to the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The total peak capacity of Talladega is around 175,000 spectators, with the main grandstand capacity being about 80,000.

Entry list

  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet Instalco
01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet G&K Services
1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet OneMain Financial
2 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Rheem
3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops
4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet Flex Seal
05 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet Jive Communications
6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford Kleen Performance
07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet Scuba Life
7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet Breyers
10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota TriStar Motorsports
11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection
13 John Jackson MBM Motorsports Toyota Florida Waterfront, Card Merrill
14 Benny Gordon TriStar Motorsports Toyota VSI Racing
15 Travis Kvapil Rick Ware Racing Ford Lilly Trucking, CarportEmpire.com
16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford Lilly Diabetes, American Diabetes Association
18 Matt Tifft (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota NOS Energy Drink
19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Arris
20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GameStop
22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford Discount Tire
24 Brandon McReynolds JGL Racing Toyota Redneck Riviera, JGL Young Guns
25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet Advanced Communications Group
28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota WinField
33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Okuma
39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet Sparks Energy
40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Dodge Phoenix Air, Schaeffer's Racing Oil
42 Justin Marks Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Katerra
43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford J. Streicher
44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota Zachry
48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet DC Solar
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet, BRT Extrusions
52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet Sparks Energy, Donate Life Alabama
62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa
70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet Buddy's Home Furnishings, Ice-Aid
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge National Multiple Sclerosis Society
78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Triple R Containers LLC
85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet Lucas Oil
88 Chase Elliott (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet Armour Vienna Sausage
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet Shepherd Racing Ventures
90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet BuckedUp Apparel, David Johnson's Auto
93 Josh Reaume RSS Racing Chevrolet RSS Racing
97 Ryan Ellis Obaika Racing Chevrolet Vroom! Brands
98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford Fresh from Florida
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, April 29, at 10:30 AM CST. The session would last for 55 minutes. Bubba Wallace, driving for Roush Fenway Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 49.768, and an average speed of 192.413 mph (309.659 km/h).

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 49.768 192.413
2 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 49.783 192.355
3 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.920 191.827
Full first practice results

Final practice

The final practice session was held on Friday, April 29, at 12:30 PM CST. Matt Tifft, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.639, and an average speed of 181.918 mph (292.769 km/h).

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 18 Matt Tifft (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.639 181.918
2 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.756 181.515
3 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.098 180.346
Full final practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, April 30, at 9:30 AM CST. Since Talladega Superspeedway is at least 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12.

Matt Tifft, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest lap in Round 2, with a lap of 52.857, and an average speed of 181.168 mph (291.562 km/h).

Josh Reaume, Derrike Cope, and Mike Harmon would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time (R1) Speed (R1) Time (R2) Speed (R2)
1 18 Matt Tifft (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.008 180.652 52.857 181.168
2 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.075 180.424 52.951 180.846
3 2 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.371 179.423 53.051 180.506
4 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.254 179.817 53.092 180.366
5 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.337 179.538 53.136 180.217
6 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.307 179.639 53.270 179.763
7 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.528 178.897 53.479 179.061
8 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 53.626 178.570 53.552 178.817
9 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.629 178.560 53.599 178.660
10 44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 53.664 178.444 53.679 178.394
11 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 53.642 178.517 53.869 177.765
12 43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 53.617 178.600 53.910 177.629
Eliminated in Round 1
13 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 53.676 178.404 - -
14 88 Chase Elliott (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.735 178.208 - -
15 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53.737 178.201 - -
16 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.770 178.092 - -
17 98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 53.844 177.847 - -
18 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53.881 177.725 - -
19 14 Benny Gordon TriStar Motorsports Toyota 53.926 177.577 - -
20 42 Justin Marks Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 53.949 177.501 - -
21 24 Brandon McReynolds JGL Racing Toyota 53.955 177.481 - -
22 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota 54.034 177.222 - -
23 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 54.066 177.117 - -
24 05 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet 54.114 176.960 - -
25 90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet 54.125 176.924 - -
26 01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 54.241 176.545 - -
27 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 54.361 176.156 - -
28 07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 54.416 175.978 - -
29 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 54.436 175.913 - -
30 25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet 54.438 175.907 - -
31 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Dodge 54.445 175.884 - -
32 13 John Jackson MBM Motorsports Toyota 54.496 175.719 - -
33 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet 54.587 175.426 - -
Qualified by owner's points
34 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 54.716 175.013 - -
35 0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 55.037 173.992 - -
36 97 Ryan Ellis Obaika Racing Chevrolet 55.151 173.632 - -
37 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 55.285 173.212 - -
38 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 55.484 172.590 - -
39 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 55.513 172.500 - -
40 15 Travis Kvapil (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 55.911 171.272 - -
Failed to qualify
41 93 Josh Reaume RSS Racing Chevrolet 54.659 175.195 - -
42 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 54.675 175.144 - -
43 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 55.107 173.771 - -
Official qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 9 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 116 1 Running 44
2 18 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 116 0 Running 39
3 11 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 116 5 Running 39
4 34 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 116 7 Running 38
5 6 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 116 1 Running 37
6 3 2 Austin Dillon (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 116 7 Running 0
7 2 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 116 2 Running 35
8 1 18 Matt Tifft (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 116 21 Running 0
9 14 88 Chase Elliott (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 116 7 Running 0
10 17 98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 116 0 Running 0
11 20 42 Justin Marks Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 116 0 Running 30
12 35 0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 116 0 Running 29
13 15 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 116 0 Running 28
14 19 14 Benny Gordon TriStar Motorsports Toyota 116 0 Running 27
15 26 01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 116 0 Running 26
16 10 44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 116 0 Running 25
17 29 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 116 0 Running 24
18 12 43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 116 0 Running 23
19 16 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 116 36 Running 24
20 5 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 116 0 Running 21
21 38 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 116 0 Running 20
22 4 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 116 0 Running 19
23 21 24 Brandon McReynolds JGL Racing Toyota 116 0 Running 18
24 13 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 116 1 Running 18
25 40 15 Travis Kvapil (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 116 0 Running 0
26 24 05 John Wes Townley (i) Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet 116 0 Running 0
27 8 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 115 19 Running 0
28 25 90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet 115 0 Running 13
29 28 07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 115 0 Running 12
30 31 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Dodge 115 0 Running 11
31 7 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 113 8 Running 11
32 32 13 John Jackson MBM Motorsports Toyota 112 0 Running 9
33 33 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet 111 0 Running 8
34 22 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota 82 0 Electrical 7
35 36 97 Ryan Ellis Obaika Racing Chevrolet 81 0 Engine 6
36 39 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 39 0 Engine 5
37 30 25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet 30 0 Accident 4
38 37 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 30 0 Accident 3
39 23 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 27 1 Rear Gear 3
40 27 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 2 0 Suspension 1
Failed to qualify
41 93 Josh Reaume RSS Racing Chevrolet
42 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet
43 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 1 Elliott Sadler 314
1 2 Daniel Suárez 314 (-0)
3 Ty Dillon 281 (–33)
3 4 Justin Allgaier 280 (–34)
1 5 Brendan Gaughan 279 (–35)
2 6 Brandon Jones 273 (–41)
2 7 Erik Jones 263 (–51)
8 Brennan Poole 251 (–63)
1 9 Bubba Wallace 229 (–85)
1 10 Ryan Reed 221 (–93)
11 Jeb Burton 201 (–113)
12 Ryan Sieg 197 (–117)
Official driver's standings
  • Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

  1. "Elliott Sadler wins Xfinity race in a wild overtime finish at Talladega". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 30, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  2. Spencer, Reid (April 30, 2016). "Poole in photo finish at Talladega, Except Sadler had already won". The Final Lap. NASCAR Wire Service. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  3. "Track Location". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  4. "Talladega is known for speed, but slow down and take in what the Alabama city offers". April 19, 2019.
  5. "Talladega Superspeedway". December 31, 2017. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  6. "Track Facts". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  7. Utter, Jim (November 27, 2013). "Talladega Superspeedway to reduce seating to 80,000". The Charlotte Observer. The McClatchy Company. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  8. ^ "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site - Talladega XFINITY Race Info Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on May 25, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  9. McFadin, Daniel (April 29, 2016). "Darrell Wallace Jr. tops first Xfinity Series practice at Talladega". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  10. McFadin, Daniel (April 29, 2016). "Matt Tifft fastest in final Xfinity Series practice". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  11. "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  12. McFadin, Daniel (February 20, 2016). "Ty Dillon wins pole for Xfinity opener at Daytona". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  13. "2016 Sparks Energy 300 - Racing Reference". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
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